The present invention relates to a lift and particularly to portable lifts of the type which have a winch assembly having a drive motor connected to a drum on which a lifting cable is attached so that it may be wound and unwound.
Hoisting equipment incorporating winches utilize various apparatus and control systems to prevent overloading. Generally, these systems are expensive and, in some cases, require complicated electric-hydraulic systems to sense an overloaded condition and to deactivate the system to avoid potential damage to the system and to avoid presenting a safety hazard in the event a cable should break or become disconnected.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an effective load control system for lifts, particularly lifts using as a power source utilizing winches of the type commercially available to lift loads such as palletized materials, materials on large reels or rolls such as paper and plastic and other similar loads. Winches of this type utilize power heads having an electric motor which are operatively connected to a cable reel or drum and have safety overload features which will stall the unit when load capacity is exceeded. However, such units do not allow for adjustment of the load capacity below the maximum load capacity and do not provide protection in the event a cable breaks.